2. [Star Wars] Did Darth Vader Truly Redeem Himself?

In this episode, Rabbi Josh Livingstone joins us and humorously works through Darth Vader's final act of redemption. But was it enough? Did Anakin go too far in his transformation to the Dark Side, and his subsequent acts over the years? How does Judaism view redemption? What do we have to do, and is there ever a point of no return? 

Anakin Skywalker was picked up as a kid by the Jedi. He was expected to be the Chosen One who would bring balance to the Force. Anakin was a very powerful Force user. After many years of training, Anakin secretly married Padme Amadala, which went against Jedi rules. Anakin has dreams of Padme dying and is desperate to save her. He is eventually manipulated by Chancellor Palpatine (who is secretly Darth Sidious/the [future] Emperor) into turning to the Dark Side. Anakin proceeds to exterminate the Jedi and bring the Emperor to power.

Anakin is dubbed Darth Vader, and becomes the Emperor’s right hand man. Although it is not clear from the original trilogy (episodes 4, 5 and 6), Vader either commits, or is closely allied with those who commit genocide, including when the Empire destroys a planet full of people.

In the original trilogy, Luke Skywalker is the hope of the galaxy and is being trained to be a new Jedi. Predictably, Luke eventually fights Darth Vader, whom he eventually realizes is his father. Luke tries to convince Vader to return to the good side. Luke fails to do so, and subsequently defeats Vader, but refuses to kill his father. Instead, he appeals once more to Vader’s good side.

The Emperor offers Luke the opportunity to join the Dark Side and to kill Vader. Luke refuses on both counts. The Emperor tries to kill Luke. While Luke writhes in pain, screams, and begs his father for help, Darth Vader is clearly conflicted, looking between Luke and the Emperor, back to Luke, back to the Emperor.

Darth Vader then turns to the Emperor, picks him up and throws him down a shaft, killing the Emperor. This is considered a redemption moment for Vader. Luke uncovers Vader’s helmet, and it becomes clear that Vader is back to Anakin/good guy – “you were right about me”, he says to Luke, apparently referring to their earlier conversations where Luke appeals to Vader as Anakin, the good guy.

Luke, and clearly the audience, are meant to accept Vader’s act of redemption as genuine. Anakin is given a Jedi’s funeral and appears as a Force-ghost, apparently now accepted as a Jedi Knight.

This leads us into the following questions. Namely:

1. What does a person have to do to repent, from the Torah’s perspective? Did Darth Vader do that?
2. If Darth Vader did repent, is this repentance weakened because of his motivation? Vader did not repent the evil because it was evil; rather, Vader sees his son getting killed. If this new Jedi was not his son, but rather a total stranger to Vader, Vader (presumably) would not have redeemed himself.
3. Is there ever a point of return? Can a person ever go so far that they lie beyond the point of redemption
   1. Remember, Anakin:
      1. Played a key role in exterminating the Jedi, an international peace-keeping organization;
      2. Leads an attack against the Jedi Temple;
      3. Murders dozens of younglings (little kids training to be Jedi);
      4. Murders countless people;
      5. Is suggested to have committed mass murder and even genocide, by assisting the Empire in destroying entire planets

I am excited to welcome Rabbi Josh Livingstone to this episode to answer our questions. Rabbi Livingstone lives in Baltimore with his wife and children and has been involved in Jewish outreach and education for the last 18 years. He is currently the Director of Education at RAJE Maryland, which is an organization that works with young Jewish professionals in Baltimore. Rabbi Livingstone is also a marriage coach who specializes in working with husbands in both one on one and group settings with other husbands to help them improve their skills as a husband and improve their marriages. His Instagram handle is @the_husband_coach.

For questions, please reach out to joshlivingstone@gmail.com.